Hunger Games-style Early Access shooter hits milestone after just over a month on sale

Who knew the idea of participating in a staple of dystopian future science fiction would appeal to so many people? Bluehole today announced that its Early Access PC game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide on Steam.

Released in late March, the game drops players on a remote island with no tools, forcing them to scavenge vehicles, equipment, and weapons to kill off every other player. The premise made popular in other media by Battle Royale and The Hunger Games has been gaining traction in the gaming world, having previously been featured in the Battle Royale game mod for Arma 3 and Daybreak's Battle Royale mode for H1Z1, which later became the stand-alone H1Z1: King of the Kill.

The common thread among all these games is Brendan Greene. Better known by his handle PlayerUnknown, Greene created the Arma 3 mod, worked with Daybreak on H1Z1, and finally teamed up with Korean developer Bluehole for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz last month, Greene said Battlegrounds is the culmination of all his previous work on the premise.

"I'm not adding stuff for the sake of being different, or adding a new fresh element just to have something new," Greene said. "We have a pretty solid game mode. It's been a refinement of all the ideas I've had from the mod and various other games that have sprung out of this genre. This is the final refinement."

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